.......there's
just an absolute ton of incredible stuff throughout the whole
237 pages of the catalog. I'll just skim the highlights in this
written part, then give you a list with links below of my
favorites........

Commentary:
Geppi's is kind of the new kid on the block, but they
are certainly interesting. For starters famed baseball collector
Barry Halper is listed in their catalog as a Senior Acquisitions
Consultant. Geppi's also owns Morphy's Auctions.
Morphy's is one the top auction houses in the world for
antique toys, banks and advertising. Apparently
Geppi's also owns long established, Hakes Americana and
Collectibles. Some of the items in this auction were on
display at the 2005 National, and were featured in
SportsAntiques101's 2005 National coverage.

Geppi's
Fall 2005 auction "ICONS" appears to be made
up primarily from two consigners, Toby Weston Cone,
daughter of the late boxing collector Stanley Weston,
and entertainment agent Bert Padell.

Geppi's Memorabilia Road Show is proud to present for auction, perhaps the greatest collection of boxing memorabilia in history. Toby Weston Cone, daughter of the late Stanley Weston, has consigned this legendary 1000+ piece collection which partially comprised the former Boxing Hall of Fame housed at Madison Square Garden's old 8th Avenue location.

Stanley Weston, as a boy in Long Island, started out raking leaves for Nat Fleischer, founder of "The Ring Magazine". Weston later went to work at "The Ring" and eventually served as publisher there. In 1953 Stanley Weston created "Boxing and Wrestling" Magazine. The collection contains many original artifacts from "The Ring” Magazine.

The
following excerpts on the Bert Padell collection was
taken from the Geppi's website. Go to

Bert
Padell was a Yankee batboy in 1949-1950, Casey Stengel's
first two seasons, both world championship years. He
formed lifelong friendships with players from the time,
and went on to become the founding partner in the
business management and accounting firm Padell, Nadell,
Fine and Weinberger LLP. Known as the "financial
advisor to the stars," his clients have included
Robert DeNiro, Madonna, Britney Spears, Alicia Keys,
Talking Heads, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Faye Dunaway, Pink
Floyd, Run DMC, Madeline Kahn, Lorraine Bracco, Stanley
Tucci, Cyndi Lauper, Earl Monroe, Blondie, Peter Max,
Ben Vereen, and many more. He was DiMaggio's business
manager for 11 years.

The
Padell Collection is one of the hobby's best kept
secrets. Seldom seen by the general public, rarely
written about, and lovingly assembled for more than a
half-century by Mr. Padell, the collection's primary
pieces have long been coveted by those with knowledge of
the material. Some have compared the treasures to the
Barry Halper Collection, which was auctioned in 1999,
and Mr. Halper, a senior consultant to Geppi's, has long
marveled at the items in the collection.

Jack Johnson
1878-1946

First African-American to hold the title of

Heavyweight
Boxing Champion of the World

.....“Dear Nat, Here is my story I promised you, Jack Johnson.”
- The facts he recites state that Jack Curley approached Johnson in Europe, where he was living because of pending criminal charges in America. Curley convinced Johnson he could arrange a fight with Willard and
arrange for Johnson to come home. Johnson traveled a circuitous route and wound up in Cuba, where Curley convinced him that if he lost the fight he could get to see his mother......

The
premier lot of this auction is a January 27, 1916 letter
from Jack Johnson exposing the details of how he
threw his fight with Jess Willard in their July 14th
1915 fight in Havana Cuba. The letter is Lot No.1, and
the item description is not only great reading, but
makes the catalog into an important research reference.
Lot 43 is a pair of boxing gloves purportedly worn by
John L. Sullivan. Lot 42 is a pair

purportedly
worn by James J. Corbett, who
took Sullivan's Heavy Weight title from him in 1892. Lot
44 is a punching bag purportedly used in training by
John L.Sullivan.

All
three of these items are stated to have been researched
by long time boxing aficionado and promoter Craig
Hamilton of J.O. Sports. The catalog copy in all three
lots state Hamilton found photographic evidence that
they resided in The Ring Museum, of Ring Magazine
publisher Nat Fleischer. What an interesting three
items! Do you understand their potential importance?
John L. Sullivan's boxing gloves? James J. Corbett's
boxing gloves? Excuse me? In the annals of boxing
collecting I don't think I've ever heard of anything as
important offered. I mean where do you go from John L.
Sullivan's boxing gloves? On one hand, I don't read
anything in the descriptions about documentation or letters
from Fleischer or other parties of Sullivan's era
that detail the circumstances of how or where, or from
whom they were acquired. On the other hand, I
suppose if anyone would have had access to items of
their caliber it would have been Nat Fleischer. I'll
tell ya what, if those are John L. Sullivan's gloves
they should be on the cover of the catalog, not to
mention CNN. In all seriousness I think they
should be tested for Sullivan's DNA if such a test is
possible.

Getting
back to the rest of the auction, there's just an
absolute ton of incredible stuff throughout the whole
237 pages of the catalog. I'll just skim the highlights
in this written part, then give you a list with links
below of my favorites.

There
are page after page of boxing gloves of many famous
boxers. Lot 28 thru 36 are all fantastic square silks.
Programs, tickets, original art work galore, plaster
fist casts, presentation walking canes. Lot 7 is a very
advanced and important piece, a decorative metal
sculptured presentation belt awarded to English boxer
Jim Mace in 1861. Lot 80, Joe Louis ring worn boxing
trunks. Great purple color that would display very well.
Lots 174 and 175, Rocky Marciano's gloves and trunks,
wow.

Regretfully
there are no statues or great early site poster
broadsides, which are my hot buttons. I'll end with one
of my favorite pieces in the auction. Lot No. 23, which
was on display at the 2005 National this last summer,
and that I featured in my coverage, an incredible
5" wide by 16" tall silk banner that James J.
Corbett gave to a friend, which details his victory over
John L. Sullivan on September 7 1892 at the Olympic Club
in New Orleans. Long time boxing collector and expert
John Buonaguidi told me he'd never seen it before!

5"
x 16" Silk victory banner from

1892
Sullivan Corbett fight in New Orleans

There
are 1,000 lots in this
auction.

Below
are some of the standout items considered exceptional by
SportsAntiques101.com